Tag Archives: Handmade

This owl softie was a special Christmas request from a little girl. She asked Santa Claus to turn her sweet owl drawing into a fluffy owl softie!!!

Santa contact me and ask me if I could help him! After all I am one of his elves!!!!;)

I couldn’t say no! I gave my best and this is the result 🙂 🙂 -> ->

Every drawing is unique. It is very important for me to pay attention in every detail.

This softie is made with high quality yellow fur and fleece fabric. Its eyes and mouth are a bit stuffed to get this 3D effect. Every part is double machine stitched and some parts are also hand sewed. Size approximately 15″inches.

During these years I have received several children’s drawings that I turned them into softies. Every drawing was a nice surprise for me because children have the ability to draw something ordinary (ex. rabbit, owl) in the most creative way. Their drawings are so special because they do not have our mind illustrating rules!!! It is the creative expression that lets children tap into the magic of their own imagination and just enjoy the process.

Here is an example of what I am talking about.

I was assigned to make from two drawings, two softies which where intended to be given as birthday gifts. Check them out

Here is a cat and a worm drawing!

and here are my handmade softies inspired by these special drawings.

First, the cat softie.

size: 45cm x 22cm

Details:

Second, the worm softie.

size:27cm x45cm

Details:

These softies are made with high quality fleece and they are stuffed with fiber fill. All their parts (inside and out) are double sewed. Quality is very important to me and I pay attention in every detail.

This is a excellent birthday gift idea! Don’t you think? You will not find a similar softie to any mass production store and remember that it will be made from your kid’s design.

But, I guess the hard part is to choose which drawing to send me 😉 And then I will take from there…

Everyone who has an Etsy shop knows how important are the great photos when comes to advertise your artifacts. Some times it is a fun procedure but most of the times you have to take a million of shots in order to get THE right ONE !!!

Some prefer to photograph their goodies outside with natural light but some others use a light box with artificial light. I personally use natural light for my softies. I have a special corner in my balcony where I take my photos but sometimes its hard because the weather is cloudy or rainy. So for some time know I was thinking to make a light box.

I was so glad when I learned that EGST team was about to organize a special Photoseminar.

If you want your background to be around 33cm then you will have to measure 16 cm from each edge of your foam board (at 65cm side). Draw a line at your marks and then use your cutter to cut along the lines.

You must be very careful not to cut through the whole thickness of the board as afterwards you will have to fold them in order to form right angles. There you can use some gaffer tape to keep the folded parts at their place.

When you have your board ready, you put a piece of aluminium foil at the top of it.

Then you need a background piece of paper. You can use a white or any other color and tape it at the longest side, like Polina has done. The secret is that the paper has to form a circular shape in order to have this endless background effect.

Last but not least you need two desk lamps with clips. They have to point at the top, towards the aluminium foil. This diffuses the light and gives less strong shadows at the objects. You can use day light bulbs.

Polina also uses a gorillapod tripod. It is small very flexibly tripod to work with. I don’t have a close photo of this but you can see it holding it at her hands!!!!

CLOHE Automata are mechanical moving toys that can be used as a learning tool for primary students to introduce engineering, arts, sculpture, mechanics and science, by combining play and technology.

The mechanical principles behind Automata go back thousands of years from Ancient Greece to Egypt, later used by Leonardo da Vinci and having a great pick in the 19th century, where in that time we see the automata becoming more of a child’s toy.

This idea is widely used by teachers all over the world and it is amazing what kids can make using their imagination and mechanics.

The great thing about automata is that you can use everyday simple craft materials like a cardboard box, wooden sticks, glue or acrylics and make a simple or more complex one.

CLOHE has great site were you can find so many useful information about how a kid can make an automata toy on his/her own or with the help of a parent/teacher.

You can start with a simple construction and later make a more complex one!!!!

Tania in her painting classroom has made an ice-cream eater. It is super fun and you can check out in the kids workshop site“koitazokaivlepo” their other amazing projects.

!!!! Thank you Tania for sharing this great automata concept !!!!

I must admit with all this combination of craft and mechanics I got a little jealous and I made my very own automata box. So here is a video of my Butterfly automata ->

Just my way to say !!!!! HAPPY SPRING !!!!!! 🙂 🙂

How about you? Are you ready to start your own moving toy? !!!!

Get your craft materials and give it a try!!! Children will got crazy!!!

This Christmas I had the opportunity to make two more softies from children drawings.

The first drawing was an “Owl” and the second one was a “Dancing Kid” ( I call it like that because of its shape) !!!

I liked very much these figures and the next thing was to examine all the drawing details..

— The Owl has a crown, a blue cape, something like a collar and last but not least a tether!!!
Can you see a black line at right bottom, near the leg? Yeap, that is a tether!!!

— Now lets see what the “Dancing Kid” has! Check out his eyes, they look in different directions. I love its black freckles and his blouse with the funny logo face!!
His body is rather slim and flexible that’s why I call him “Dancing Kid”!!!!

These are super amazing drawings but also very demanding in details!!!!

I’ve better start working ….

The Owl

Front side:

Back side:

Check the tether too!

The Dancing Kid

Will you dance with me !!!Front side:

Back side:

I hand-embroidered the LOGO FACE…

Ready for shipping

Both dolls are made with fleece so they are soft and squeezable.

They measure approximate 15”inches (38cm) tall.

With lovely gift wrapping!!!

And finally delivered to the amazing artists who made the drawings!!!

They look satisfied. What do you think?

I know that these softies found the best hugs ever.

Making custom dolls is my favorite thing and when I see these cute adorable faces with my softies really makes my day!!! LOVE you guys!!!